Beautiful I's
by nightmareofcat
Summary: Loki just moved to town with his giant sweet tooth, Sophie worked as the baker in the local cafe. Both bored, enter a foodie chat room and immediately hit it off. Will they ever figure out who the other is? LokiXOC co-authored by Pedeka


Standard disclaimer applies. I no own Loki, you no sue.

Happy reading and tell us what you think!

Loki had just moved into this midsized town a few days ago but he could already feel the homesickness settling in, his mother must be worried sick by now and man what he would give to have one of her warm baked goods and a nice cup of her tea. He sighed wistfully while surveying his home, a moderately sized 2 bedroom house just outside the center of town. The spare bedroom was perfect for his office and his equipment, exploring and mapping caves took a lot more work than one would think.

He spent the first few days unpacking and getting his things in order, by the end of his 4th day in town he became restless. Digging out his IPod and running shoes, Loki threw on his jogging outfit and trotted off to explore his new city.

Several miles later found him walking down one of the main streets, the locals seemed friendly enough; waving or smiling at him as he passed. He was just about to turn to head back home when a wonderful aroma caught his attention, Loki could recognize the smell of fresh brownies from miles away. He trotted across the street to gaze in the shop window; turns out the little shop was a rather quaint cafe. Deciding his sweet tooth and thirst needed quenching, he stepped inside and took a deep breath; the sweet scent of caramelizing sugar and chocolate filled his nose and made his mouth water.

Loki perused the display case off to his left, taking in all the delicious looking pastries and other baked goods, all of them obviously homemade.

A bubbly looking blonde with shorter hair smiled at him from behind the counter. "Morning sir, anything specific you wantin to try? You must be new in these parts, haven't seen you before."

Loki smiled timidly at the woman; whose nametag read 'Sara', and replied. "Yes actually, just moved here a few days ago, I'm Loki." He reached over the counter to shake her hand.

"Loki, that's a funny name. Where you from if you don't mind me askin?"

"London actually, been all over the world but my feet always carried me back to merry old England in the end." Loki shifted his weight around uncomfortably but the woman across the counter was obviously too entranced by his accent to notice.

"Well that explains the fancy speech then don't it?" Sara rested a hand on her hip and waited for the handsome man to make a decision.

Loki glanced over the offerings before him and ordered. "Can I get one of those brownies and a large tea?"

Sara smiled at the green eyed man before her. "Sure thing hun." She got his order together and slid them across the counter; waiving him off when he pulled out his wallet. "This one is on the house hun, welcome to the neighborhood." Loki smiled gratefully and thanked her before wandering over to the booth in the corner to sample his treat.

The tea was mediocre at best but it was hot and felt good sliding down his throat, the brownie on the other hand... He moaned out loud. Supremely chocolately and moist, chewy without sticking to his teeth like taffy; perfection, absolute perfection. Sara had heard his moan across the cafe and giggled. "Those were pulled out of the oven not even an hour ago, our girl sure knows how to make a damn good brownie don't she?"

All Loki could do was nod and shovel the rest of the gooey goodness in his mouth; he enjoyed it so much he got another and wolfed that one down with the same relish. "My compliments to the baker. Thank you for making me feel welcome." Loki gave Sara a broad grin before heading out the door and to home.

It was just after his evening meal when Loki drug his computer out of his satchel to peruse the internet, feeling puckish; he went searching for recipes that he could make in a crock pot. Since his work had him out the door early and home late in some cases, he would up finding a chat room for foodies and thought why not, he created a user name and signed on.

Sophie took off her filthy apron and tossed it in the laundry barrel. It had been a long day at the shop. Sara running in and out of the kitchen all afternoon, interrupting her cleaning to drop random bits of information about some new guy in town that stopped while he was out running.

She reached out and opened the back door to leave for home and called out to the front of the shop. "Sara! I'm out for the day. See ya in the morning. And WHO stops for brownies halfway through a run?"

Her apartment was a short couple of block's walk down the street and over a hardware store. When Sophie got home she took a shower to get the sugar out of her hair and reheated some casserole. She got snuggled in on the couch, with her bowl of dinner and turned on her laptop.

There was always someone around in the chat room to talk to, which wasn't the case for a single girl in town on a weeknight. She logged in as Cupquake and scanned the list of people logged in. "Whew, at least IMACHEF isn't online. She makes me want to punch my screen." She mumbled to herself while starting to type.

[08:02:10 PM ] Cupquake: Hey! Thanks for the ideas yesterday. The individual Toad in the Holes we're all sold out by 10 am.

Loki was halfway spaced out watching the news that he almost didn't hear the ding signaling there was a new message in the chat room.

[08:02:10 PM ] Cupquake: Hey! Thanks for the ideas yesterday. The individual Toad in the Holes we're all sold out by 10 am.

[08:08:40 PM] Caveman: Good evening, new to this chat. I love Toad in the Hole.

Loki replied to the message posted, finally some excitement in a room that was supposedly for foodies.

[08:12:15 PM] Cupquake: Welcome! So do I. I'm pretty sure half the customers didn't know what they were exactly, but it seems British is the new "exotic" around here. I might have to branch out into scones soon.

[08:14:21 PM] Caveman: Scones are always good; it is so hard to find a good apricot scone. I find it ironic that British is the new exotic since, I myself am British.

[08:20:27 PM]Cupquake: I'm Midwest US. Everything is exotic here. Apricot huh? I might run with that if it's OK. I always need new ideas.

[08:21:55 PM] Caveman: Please do, send me one through e-mail so that I may try it hmm? Just moved to the Midwest myself for work.

[08:23:08 PM] Cupquake: Absolutely. So where are you cooking now Caveman?

[08:25:00 PM] Caveman: Oh, I am not a chef or anything. Just a single man in a new town looking for possible ideas for my crock pot, work keeps me out for long hours and I have no desire to cook once I return home and American fast food does not agree with my English constitution.

[08:36:29 PM] Cupquake: I can help you there. I'm in kinda the same boat.

Sophie posted links to a few crock pot recipes and they chatted about the sad availability of vegetables and debated scone recipes until past Sophie's usual bedtime. Even though it was late, she went to bed smiling. Caveman was very easy to talk to, she hoped he hung around.

She left for work a bit earlier and blearier eyed than usual and stopped at the 24 hour grocery to pick up a few boxes of dried apricots. By the time Sara showed up at the shop to open the front, Sophie was drizzling white chocolate glaze on a tray of warm apricot scones.

"They're for your new customer, Sara." She teased. "A friend of mine suggested them."

Loki enjoyed talking to Cupquake more than he thought he would, she had vast knowledge and a sense of humor. She must be a saint to tolerate his stuffy sense of humor. He bookmarked quite a few of the recipes she shared and printed one off to try tomorrow since he already had the ingredients. He dropped into bed with a grin on his face and a sudden urge for an apricot scone.

Even after going to bed later than he normally did, Loki woke in a great mood. He dressed in his jog gear, grabbed his IPod and went for his usual morning run before stopping by that cafe again.

The bell above the door jingled when he entered and once again the scent of fresh baked good filled his lungs. This time, on top of the counter was a tray filled with apricot scones. The same woman from yesterday met him at the counter. "Hey you, I told our baker you were British and she whipped up some scones today. Care to try one?" Loki smiled at Sara. "Yes Ma'am, one scone, a brownie and tea please."

Sara happily got his order while Loki pulled cash from his wallet; he tossed her a 20 and had her keep the change. His corner booth was empty so he took his seat; the scone was every bit as delicious as it looked and the brownie even more so.

Once he finished and had tossed his trash, he approached Sara. "Please tell your baker those scones are to die for, possibly even better than my mothers." He gave her a smile and finished his jog home so he could shower and to check out his work site.

Sophie heard Sara come in the kitchen while she was taking a tray of cookies out of the oven. Without even looking up, she could tell the other woman was grinning from ear to ear.

"And the verdict was good on the scones I assume?" She laughed as she dropped the tray on a table with a clatter.

"He said they were to die for and better than his Mom's." Sara put her hands on her hips and looked at the other woman a bit critically. "He's REALLY good looking and doesn't wear a ring. You do your hair and put on some lipstick from now on, cause the next time he comes in I'm introducing you."

Sophie flapped her apron and chased her friend out of the kitchen. "Go make coffee. Scoot. Remember the last time you tried to be matchmaker? I do, the bartender with the giant spider neck tattoo? He didn't even wake up until I needed to go to sleep."

Loki has successfully logged, mapped and took photos of about a quarter mile of the caves and a section of the mine shaft that connected to it when he decided to call it a day. He was hungry and stunk of musty cave. As soon as he got home, he took a shower then booted up his computer as he got a bowl of the stew he had in the slow cooker. While he waited for his food to cool down some, he switched on the news and logged into the chat room, hoping to catch Cupquake.

He ended up not waiting long before he saw her name pop up on the user list.

[8:16:28 PM] Caveman: Cupquake this stew is delicious, and that cafe I told you about had apricot scones today. They were magnificent.

[8:21:16 PM] Cupquake: Must have been the day for scones. I tried out what we were talking about last night and they went over well. :) And I'm jealous of your stew. I'm having the Subway sandwich of depression.

[8:23:51 PM] Caveman: That is great news darling, I am happy the scones went over well. I would send you a bowl of my stew but I fear my computer will have none of it and I'm sure the post would ruin it.

Darling. A complete stranger online calling her darling should be offensive. Then why did it make her feel all warm?

[8:30:32 PM] Cupquake: Just the offer makes me feel better. Speaking of the post office, the supplier stopped carrying my brand of cocoa powder. I'm going to have to find someplace online to overnight some or I won't be making brownies they day after tomorrow. :(

[8:32:35 PM] Caveman: Did you say no brownies? The world would end with no brownies, we must remedy this situation.

Loki did a quick search for the supplier his mother used and saw they have a branch in the states and they overnight.

[8:33:49 PM] Caveman: Here darling, this is the same supplier my mother uses for hers, they have a branch in the states that overnight as well.

He sent her the link and hoped it would help.

[8:49:01 PM] Cupquake: I said no brownies. And it would be sad, because, not to brag, but I make the best brownies in the world.

Sophie pushed her dark waves out of her face and scrolled through the site Caveman sent her to and sighed as she began to type again.

[8:52:01 PM] Cupquake: I use King Arthur black cocoa. You'd THINK with a name like that, a UK supplier would carry it, but nope. You guys must all be living in the States now. LOL I'll just contact the company. But thanks, dear.

As she hit enter, she wondered if she should have added that dear. Too late now.

Loki smiled at his computer; she called him dear; maybe calling her darling was a bit too much of him. He was growing rather fond of the mystery woman and knew he was getting into tricky territory with the whole online thing but he couldn't help himself.

[8:58:01 PM] Caveman: No problem darling, I tried to help. I hope we don't all live in the states, if we did then I probably would not have grabbed your attention. I am a rather boring fellow, hideous to boot.

Sophie took a chance and met and rose his flirting.

[9:06:30 PM] Cupquake: Right here, right now you aren't boring at all Caveman. And there's no way you can be hideous, you have a very good looking font. Just for a reference on me, you know Margot Robbie? I look nothing like her.

Just as she hit enter a new message popped up that made her roll her eyes.

[9:06:30 PM] IMACHEF: Cupquake, no one is here to watch you flirt. Go somewhere else and attention whore.

[9:12:55 PM] Caveman: Says the person that messaged me not long ago asking if I wanted to, and I quote; "Put a Toad in your Hole?" Pardon me if I offend you but piss off.

This IMACHEF person just royally ticked him off; Loki opted to open a private chat window with Cupquake.

[9:06:30 PM] Caveman: I'm sorry about that horrid person; they had no right to intrude as such. It is a good thing you look nothing like Margot Robbie; I do not find her attractive I'm afraid.

Loki's face softened again as he typed.

[9:06:30 PM] Caveman: You do have lovely I's, they are typed beautifully.

A wide grin spread across her face as the second chat window opened.

[9:19:29 PM] Cupquake: Thanks for standing up for me. That happens a lot with her. She's still mad cause once I called her out on copying and pasting AllRecipe recipes and saying they were hers. LOL

[9:19:40 PM] Cupquake: And your serifs are rather handsome.

They stayed up way too late chatting again. Sophie wound up taking the laptop to bed with her and had nodded off a few times before she unplugged and went to sleep.

Though unconventional, Loki found their flirtation rather endearing. If only he could be that bold face to face. It was rather late when they finally said good night; they both kept nodding off at points. Even with little rest, he still woke up with a grin on his face and kept smiling throughout his jog and again entering the cafe. Sara looked almost startled at the megawatt grin on his face.

"Have a good night hun?" She started his tea and got his brownie ready.

"I think it was, I've been speaking with the most remarkable woman online... Are there any specials today?" Loki frowned a bit when he didn't see anything.

"Not today hun, our little baker girl got a late start on things today. Seems she was up rather late as well, brownies are still very warm even."

Loki asked for a second brownie then paid for his order and retreated to his corner seat.

Sophie finished another cup of coffee to keep her moving and set it on the desk in the corner when Sara popped into the kitchen with a grin. She pulled a lipstick out of her pocket and handed it to Sophie. "He's here. Now get out there before some other remarkable woman grabs him."

Sophie put on the offered lipstick and said, "I'm not getting set up. I'm just going out to put cookies in the case. Besides, I think I might have met someone.. kinda...in a way." Then she hefted a large tray of cookies and exited the swinging door.

He had just popped the last bite of his first brownie in his mouth when the kitchen doors opened; he didn't think much of it, thinking it was just Sara being her usual self but he glanced up anyway and was nearly struck dumb. Even covered in flour she was beautiful.

Loki was a rather timid creature on a good day but he felt overwhelmingly compelled to at least say hi to the woman that makes his mornings worth it, he slid from his seat and approached the counter.

"You must be the baker; I have to say you make my day every morning." He leaned on the edge of the counter and smiled nervously, obviously this wasn't his smoothest day ever.

Sophie peeked out from the corner of her eye, to see the man Sara thought she had to meet. She almost dropped her tray, but caught it on the edge of the counter and sat it down as he approached. Sara had undersold him. She stared up into bright green eyes that looked out from above the most amazing cheekbones. After he spoke to her in his beautifully accented baritone, she blushed, grinned and brushed her flour dusted hands on her apron. She held a slightly cleaner hand out over the counter to shake.

"Th..thank you. I get your compliments. I'm glad you like... the things...I make the... things... I'm sorry, I'm tired today. I'm Sophie. That's a lot of I's, huh?" The more she spoke, the more flustered she got at his smile. She looked down and realized that after they shook hands, neither of them let go.

Loki smiled broader at her, this Sophie; her hands were soft, or maybe that was the flour. She smelled good enough to eat and he was suddenly very, very hungry. "Pleasure to meet you Sophie, I'm Loki. No need to apologize, you make beautiful I's"

He froze a moment in internal horror; apparently that was now his go to pickup line. She was going to think he's a nutcase, so much for being suave.

"Sorry, rather tired myself. Normally I'm much better at this whole talking thing, guess I need to step away from the computer and the caves for awhile huh?" His smiled turned sheepish as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, why hadn't he let go of her hand? Not that he really wanted to at any rate.

Sophie's grin turned into an honest smile at Loki's comment about beautiful I's. Maybe that was a British thing. You're wonderful; I mean your speaking is wonderful. You're fine. Computers and caves, huh? Is that what brought you to town?

Her hand was still wrapped in his fingers. Flicking her eyes down, she slipped her hand across the counter before he thought she was weirder than he must already. She plucked a cookie from the tray and settled it between his fingers as a kind of replacement.

"Yes, caves brought me here actually. I was hired to explore and map the cave system that opened up a few miles from here." Loki furrowed his brow in disappointment when she replaced her hand with a cookie but ever the gentleman he took a nibble... Then devoured the entire thing.

"My dear, my morning runs will be for naught if you continue to make such delicious creations. Running miles a day to gain a few pounds, not sure that's how it is supposed to work." He glanced up at the clock on the wall and cursed.

"My apologies but I must get to work, until tomorrow my darling baker." Loki winked and tossed her another breathtaking smile before he left the cafe in a rush to get home.

Sophie's face burned red and she turned around and slid down the back of the bakery case until she was sitting on the floor with her face in her hands. "Sara!" She yelled. "I know you're watching through the window!"

Said Sara slipped through the door with a huge grin on her face. "Is he not the most scrumptious thing you ever saw?" She waggled her eyebrows and nodded her head like it was the most obvious thing in the world, because it was. "And you, darling baker, are blushing so hard you make the vinyl on the booths look pale." She grabbed a rag to wipe down the counters not blocked by Sophie.

"So he's a caveman huh? Wouldn't mind if he dragged me off to his lair. Wait till Don and Judy hears this." Sara started cackling madly thinking about it.

"I think the word is spelunker." Sophie said distractedly as she rubbed her hands over her pink face. "But oh my god... I was soooo stupid just now. He shook my hand and I forgot to let go. I FORGOT. The floor could just open up right now and that would be fine."

"Honey from where I was standing, he didn't mind that hand hold one bit; he wasn't in any hurry to let go either." Sara waved her rag around with hand on her hip. "You were both smitten. Why don't you forget about that other guy you mentioned and go with gorgeous, British man right in front of you... Er well, down the street now and damn, does he have a nice butt." Sara watched Loki jog down the street with her lip caught between her teeth. "How did I miss that before?"

"I didn't get far enough to see." Sophie mumbled only half paying attention to Sara as she continued to want to drop into the ground. She got up though and washed her hands in the sink. "Sara, I stuttered for god's sake. I don't think I'm ever coming out of the kitchen again."

"You stuttered and he flushed like a nervous school boy, it was the cutest thing i've seen in forever." Sara followed Sophie back into the kitchen.

"And I bet you will be out here in a heartbeat when he comes back tomorrow." She tossed her rag into a nearby bucket.

"We will see about that." Sophie sounded like she meant it, but was flipping through a binder on her desk for a lemon and blueberry scone recipe. "The scones sold well the other day didn't they?" She asked changing the subject

The other woman rolled her eyes. "Yeah they sold out faster than the Toad in the Hole, people were asking about different flavors."

Sara smiled again knowingly and placed the tube in Sophie's hand. "I bought it for you hun, knock em dead." She left the kitchen to the calls of grumpy people out front; she argued for a moment then yelled back in at Sophie. "We need more cinnamon rolls out here!"

Loki arrived on site much later than he would have liked, he didn't have time to start his slow cooker so it looked like leftovers again for him tonight. Not that he minded a whole lot, it was delicious.

After a time, he had thought that he made progress in his mapping but when he looked at his equipment and drawings, he had only gone about 300 feet. He sighed heavily, that baker kept flashing through his head, Sophie. Loki smiled to himself; he would have gladly skipped work today if he got to spend it with her. He shook his head to clear it, he really needed to talk to Cupquake, she would know what he should do.

He put in a few more hours of work before calling it a night just before dark, he stumbled home and threw some leftovers in the microwave to reheat while he took a shower and his computer booted up.

Freshly showered and shoveling food in his face, Loki signed onto the chat room.

Sophie got a few more trays of baking done and rushed through her clean up and phone calls to get out as early as she could. She wouldn't admit it, but she really wanted to get in a short nap when she got home, in case she was up late chatting again, chatting with no awkward handshakes or stuttering or general anxiety involved. Maybe it wouldn't be too awkward to ask her new friend about how to come back from this morning with Loki.

Sophie microwaves a frozen container of soup and balanced it on her knee as she opened her laptop and logged in. She felt a sense of relief when she saw Caveman was already in chat. She opened a private chat window.

[9:05:19 PM] Cupquake: Honey, I'm home. I don't know about you, but I had a helluva day.

Loki nearly choked on his food, the message alarm startled him. He placed his bowl on the coffee table in front of him.

[9:12:49 PM] Caveman: You and me both darling, you would not believe what I did this morning.

[9:13:38 PM] Cupquake: You first. Yours probably went better.

[9:16:26 PM] Caveman: Lol, I doubt that greatly. I met the most beautiful woman at the cafe I frequent in the mornings. I managed to work up the courage to approach her at the counter and fumbled about like a school boy, it was horrible.

[9:17:13 PM] Cupquake: I'm sure it wasn't that bad. You didn't spill anything on her did you?

[9:18:47 PM] Caveman: Thank the fates I did not, would not be surprised if she thinks I am a complete buffoon. I held her hand captive like an idiot.

[9:24:14 PM] Cupquake: You aren't an idiot. I promise. I feel like an idiot. I held someone's hand for a minute today and almost felt like I needed to find you online to apologize for cheating on you. LOL

[9:30:20 PM] Caveman: Oh darling, anyone would be lucky to hold your hand. I know I would do almost anything for the privilege. I must ask an important question, what do we do? I think I am smitten with this woman and would love to see if she would want to perhaps get a meal with me... Would you be upset? I like you probably more than I should for someone I have never seen or even spoken over the phone with. If you have a problem with it then I will not, I will just have to advise Sara not to tell Sophie when I arrive or maybe just stop going to this particular cafe.

The bowl of soup fell off of Sophie's knee and splashed on the floor as she stared open mouthed at the computer. Caveman... had she been so dysfunctional that she missed putting it together that morning? What was she supposed to do?

She realized she had been staring at the computer for several minutes before she typed a response just to buy herself some more time.

[9:40:31 PM] Cupquake: I was teasing you. It was a joke. Don't make any real world decisions like that based on me.

[9:43:34 PM] Caveman: I am nothing if not a man of my word, while she is gorgeous even covered in flour; I feel like we have a connection, do you not? We were friends before I met this woman and I do not wish to ruin our friendship if you do not approve of my actions.

Sophie's felt her face turn red and her stomach flop around. She'd never been jealous of herself before.

[9:50:27 PM] Cupquake: We do have a connection. I promise. But you don't owe me anything and I am really in no position to advise you on this. We'll be friends no matter what.

[9:51:50 PM] Caveman: You won't be upset if I were to ask her to accompany me on an outing?

[9:52:44 PM] Cupquake: Not at all. I'd be sad if you sat at home and waited for me to get online instead.

[9:53:42 PM] Caveman: We will still converse right? I truly do not want to lose you as a friend; you are the only one I have unless you count patches of moss and crickets.

[9:56:12 PM] Cupquake: I can pretty much promise if she is not out with you that I will be here online.

[9:57:40 PM] Caveman: Alright dear, I should get off here so I can get some sleep. Don't want to talk to her looking like a zombie. Good night.

Loki felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, his friend was ok with him asking Sophie out. He doubted he would sleep now with how giddy he felt but he had to try. He eventually fell asleep with a smile across his lips.

Sophie sunk down into the couch like there was a sandbag on her chest. She didn't want to lie to him. She was going to tell him that it was very likely she was the girl he was talking about; she just hadn't worked up the nerve before his name blinked away.

Eventually she closed the computer and went to bed, still not knowing what to do in the morning.

When his alarm went off in the morning, Loki sprung out of bed. He was debating on going for his run or not, if he didn't then he wouldn't feel right all day but then he wouldn't smell when he ran into her. Eventually lightening struck so to speak; he would go do his run and not stop at the cafe, instead going straight home to shower and change into something that wasn't his shorts and T-shirt.

Strapping in his IPod, he took off for his workout and when he approached the cafe he simply smiled and waved at a bewildered Sara before heading home to get ready.

When Sophie got up, she actually did something with her hair, even though it would just be up under a cap and put on makeup, knowing it would all be gone after an hour of baking. On arriving at work, she went at the kitchen like a madwoman. There were 3 kinds of scones, several extra flavors of muffins, and 2 strudels aside from the usual cinnamon rolls, cookies, breakfast breads. But there were no brownies. Her cocoa order hadn't arrived yet and she refused to make substandard brownies.

When Sara had arrived she waggled her eyebrows at Sophie's makeup. Later in the morning, when she was starting the afternoon pastries, Sara came in the kitchen a bit lower key than usual. "You know Sophie, maybe you won't have to come out of the kitchen today after all. Your English muffin just ran by and waved without stopping."

Sophie took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying not to be disappointed. "Maybe it's for the best. Things got weird last night with that guy I started to tell you about."

"Weird? What do ya mean by weird?" Sara asked while leaning against the door frame.

"Don't laugh at me, but I met him online." Sophie started. "No clue what his name was or what he looked like or anything, but we still... connected."

Sara's head jerked back like she was slapped. "You mean your mystery man online is actually our brownie fanatic?... Wow, never saw that coming." She was about to go back out front when she wheeled back around. "Wait a minute, you have a connection already without knowing who he was and yesterday you saw him for the first time so to speak, why don't you just tell him who you are?"

"I was going to, but he logged off before I could." Sophie sighed. "But he did ask my permission to ask me out because he didn't want to hurt my feeling because he knew me before he met me. See? It got weird."

"...Uh yeah and confusing as hell. Damn girl we need to get you two in the same place so he can sweep you off your sugar dusted feet then stuff ya like a cannoli." Sara mumbled to herself as she returned to the front of the shop.

Sophie sighed again and tossed some pans in the sink before she dusted a table with flour and started rolling out cookies.

Loki rushed through his shower only to come to a screeching halt, what to wear? Does he go casual, dressed or completely formal? He cradled his face in his hands in frustration, he's had girlfriends before; normally he's quite suave around women but why is he suddenly a teenager asking the most popular girl in school to prom?

He paced around his bedroom until he finally settled on a pair of dark pinstriped slacks and a button down white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and not all the buttons fastened. After giving himself a onceover in the mirror, he deemed it acceptable and strode out the door.

Loki chose to walk to the cafe instead of drive to give him time to clear his head and think of something to say... And send up a prayer she would agree. He was block away from the cafe when he saw a delivery driver that looked a bit lost. "Do you need help sir? You look lost."

The driver snapped his head up. "Uh yeah I do, my first day and they already have me in the middle of nowhere with a busted GPS. Go figure right? Anyway I'm lookin for this place." The driver leaned closer to Loki to show him the address. Loki's eyes widened. "It is right around the corner up there." He pointed up the road and to the left. "If you want I can take it for you, I'm headed there myself."

The driver looked unsure for a minute. "Oh alright, normally we aren't supposed to give it to strangers but I'm lost and you seem nice and I just really want to get home." The driver stuffed the box in Loki's hands, gave him a pat on the shoulder then practically sprinted back to his truck.

With box in hand, he continued his walk to the cafe.

Sophie was busy in the kitchen keeping her nerves at bay. She didn't know Loki, but she knew Caveman. The guy who was in the shop in his running gear, he was way out of her league. She would never have the nerve to talk to someone who looked and sounded like he did. But a random British guy who went by Caveman... she had pictured something like Mr. Bean with a full beard. There was no intimidation factor there.

Suddenly she popped her head out of the kitchen door and whispered loudly to Sara; "Don't say a THING about what I told you. Please?"

"Uh hun, pretty sure in a few minutes it aint gonna matter." Sara's eyes were fixed on the door as Loki walked in.

Sophie's head disappeared back behind the door and she told herself she was going to finish the cookies, but she washed her hands and put on a clean apron.

Loki stepped inside the cafe, nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. "Morning Sara, is it still morning?" He bit his lip and laughed. "I'm not sure anymore but um... Hi, is Sophie around?"

The woman nodded then zipped into the back to grab Sophie by the apron strings and drag her closer. "You need to get out there, now. He's here, he's gorgeous and he's asking for you." Sara almost threw Sophie out through the kitchen door.

Sophie opened her mouth to speak to Sara, but didn't have time to say anything before she spun to a halt in front of the counter. After looking up at Loki for a moment without saying anything, she noticed the tightness at the corner of his smile, the tension in his shoulders and the way he clutched the box in his hands. He wasn't a mysterious, way too attractive stranger, who was here to make her nervous. This was her friend that wouldn't let internet bullies make her miserable. She couldn't let him be miserable either.

Her eye caught the address label on the box and the King Arthur branding on the side of it. "How did you wind up with that?" She asked, then shook her head. "Never mind, it's bound to be one of the more normal answers anyone gets today."

Suddenly, Sophie had an idea and swung a section of the counter open and joined him on the outside with a warm easy smile on her face. She led him to a table and tapped the box with her finger. "Before you do anything else, could you please open this box for me? And tell me if you know what it's for? It'll make sense in a minute hopefully."

Loki followed Sophie to the table like a love struck pup, how was she not nervous? Did he read the situation wrong and she doesn't really like him? He really needed to talk to Cupquake, she could talk him through this. He was on the verge of a panic attack when she asked him to open the box. Mundane thing to concentrate on instead of the siren of sweets... He could do that easily.

He remained quiet as he tore off the tape to view the contents; gingerly he removed one of the contents. "Cocoa powder? You wanted to show me cocoa powder? Other than the brownies you make that I adore, why would I?..." Loki stopped himself and reread the brand, something clicked into place. "King Arthur cocoa powder... The only brand Cupquake uses..." His eyes flew up to hers. "Cupquake?"

She nodded and looked at him hopefully. "Feel better or do you hate me?"

He leaned back in his seat, flabbergasted. His mouth kept opening to speak but nothing came out, hands tried to gesticulate but he ended up looking like a frantic chicken. Several uncomfortable minutes, Loki was finally able to speak. "You owe me a LOT of brownies."

Sophie bit her lip and watched Loki with eyes that she was keeping from getting watery by sheer force of will. When he finally spoke she exhaled in relief. "Anything you want. I'll order more cocoa tonight." She paused a moment and spoke more quietly. "I didn't know until you said my name last night. Then, you logged off before I could figure out how to tell you. I'm so sorry."

"Honestly, I am not even mad. Confused yes but mad..." He shook his head then leaned forward. "You must truly think me daft now."

She leaned in closer when he did. "Why would I think that?"

"Because I am about to do this." Loki half stood to lean across the table and plant a kiss on her lips. "I've wanted to do that since the second night we talked, if I had known yesterday who you were I would have done it then." He grinned bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have done that yesterday. Yesterday you were willing to never come back in here if some strange woman on the internet told you not to. Today I am that strange woman." Sophie teased him despite his blush, if he had blushed before it hadn't stopped him from liking her.

"Strange indeed and yet still the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." Loki started to loosen up, realizing the creature before him is still just his friend... Now she has a face to go with it.

"I knew you didn't stumble like a school boy, like you said last night. I couldn't imagine that happening. You are very good at flattery." Sophie reached out slowly and wrapped her fingers around his hand. "And I owe you lots of brownies, but you owe me some listening, because last night you told me all about the girl you met, but you ran away before I could ask you what to do about the amazing, interesting, completely out of my league guy that I humiliated myself in front of yesterday."

Loki's other hand settled atop hers. "I am all ears darling."

"He's been all over the globe and manages to go running and look like he stepped out of a GQ spread. I was covered with flour. He was so sweet and flattering and eloquent. And I shook his hand and forgot to stop because I was looking at his eyes. And then I said, 'I'm glad you like the things. I make the things.'"Sophie dropped her head to the table dramatically next to their clasped hands. "How do I recover from that? You can't recover from 'I make the things.'"

"Yes you can dear; there is a very simple way to come back from that." He used one of his hands to tip her head back up so he can look her in the eye. "Agree to have dinner with him tonight, I promise it do not have to share a Subway sandwich of depression."

"That's a given." She smiled at him. "I've had dinner with you every night since we met."

He beamed at her and chuckled. "That you have, but this time it will be face to face."

"What if I miss your serifs?"

"We can revisit those later; you still have beautiful I's"


End file.
